FISHES OF OUR NORTH ATLANTIC SEABOARD
605
LANDING MACKEREL AT NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS
Thanks to its habits of moving in schools, the Mackerel falls easy prey to all the larger
predaceous sea creatures, particularly Sharks, Dogfish, Tuna, Bonito, and Bluefish. The mystery
of its migrations still awaits solution.
is encountered north of the Straits of Belle
Isle or south of Hatteras. On European shores
its habitat extends from Icelandic waters to
those of France and entirely surrounds the
British Isles.
More gregarious than the Cod, the Haddock
swims in large, compact schools in its migra
tions from place to place. It is a bottom
feeder and has marine invertebrates for its
principal diet, Mollusks seeming to be favored
above everything else. The spawning season
of the Haddock is from April to June. The
average size of those caught is from 2 to 4
pounds, with 17 pounds as about the maximum.
In recent years the catch of Haddock has
been so large as to make it a rival of the Cod,
which it has occasionally outranked in the an
nual value of the catch.
WINTER FLOUNDER (Pseudopleuro
nectes americanus), and SUMMER
FLOUNDER (Paralichthys dentatus)
(For illustration see Color Plate II)
The Flounder family includes the Halibuts,
the Flounders, and the Turbots. The Winter
Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) be
longs to the Flounder tribe and is an important
food fish on the New England coast. Next
to the Halibut, it is the most widely caught
Flatfish in Atlantic waters, and ranges from
Labrador to Hatteras, being especially abun
dant on the Massachusetts and Connecticut
shores. It is not a large species, seldom at-
taining to more than 20 inches in length and
5 pounds in weight. A large female produces
as many as a million eggs, the spawning sea
son being from February to April. This species
feeds on shellfish, young Crabs, and sim
ilar foods. It is a favorite with many anglers,
being one of the few shore fish that can be
caught during late winter. In the vicinity of
New York hundreds of anglers may be seen
fishing for Flounders on favorable days during
March and April.
The Summer Flounder (Paralichthys denta
tus) or Plaice, also highly regarded as a food
fish, is in some quarters known as the Fluke.
It is distinguished from the Winter Flounder
by having a large mouth, whereas the other has
a very small one. It averages in size from
two to eight pounds and compares with the
Turbot and the Brill of the English coast.
The largest one recorded weighed 19j2 pounds.
The Summer Flounders, like the Winter
species, habitually live on the bottom, where
their shape and color camouflage them and
give them opportunity to catch their prey.
They are found mostly in bays, on sandy,
muddy, or rocky bottoms. Feeding on small
fishes, Crabs, Shrimps, and Squids, they fre
quently come to the surface in pursuit of their
prey.
The migration of the eye in Flounders is
one of the strange provisions of Nature for
the protection of the Flatfish tribe. In early
youth the Flounders swim about normally, with
their eyes symmetrically placed; but as the